Ship door or hatch construction and adjustable retaining means therefor



l Filed Jan. 1o, 19394 ATTORNEYS Patented June 25, 1940 UNETED STATES ATENT @FFME SHIP DOOR OR HATCH CNSTRUCTION AND ADJUSTABLE RETAINING MEANS THERE- FOR tion of Pennsylvania Application January 10, 1939, Serial No. 250,173

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a watertight closure and more particularly to an improved ship door or hatch construction having adjustable retaining means adapted to be adjusted without any W of the closure to insure a water-tight seal benecessity of dismantling either the retaining means or the door structure.

In certain types of closures, such as watertight bulk-head doors or hatches several dogging devices are sometimes located about the margin tween the closure and its frame, the dogging members being adapted to urge the closure toward the frame and compress a gasket therebetween. The several dogging devices may be provided separate from each other or they may be interconnected `for actuation by a common actuating means. After a closure of this character has been in operation a certain length of time, the gasket associated therewith tends to become set or grooved so that the closure is not completely sealed by actuation of the common actuating means through the extent of the operating movement thereof. Such condition has heretofore necessitated frequent replacement of the gasket in order to maintain the closure water-tight. Then again, water-tight closures sometimes become slightly warped so as to cause certain of the dogging devices to be subjected to greater strain than others. In order to avoid 1' uneven strain on the dogging devices and at the same time force the entire margin of the closure with substantially even force against the frame, I have found it desirable to'vary the relative positioning of the several dogging devices with respect to their mountings.

In accordance with the present invention I overcome the above diiiculties by providing a ship door or hatch closure with dogging members, each of which has an adjustable feature which is simple in construction, capable of slight adjustments and easy to manipulate when adjustment is necessary. The adjustable feature of the dogging device is such that adjustments may be made either when the closure is rst installed or after t'he gasket has become set or grooved or the closure has become slightly warped. More specifically, the dogging `devices of my ship door or hatch construction are made adjustable byy providing a base structure for each dogging device which is adapted to threadably receive a spindle upon which a dogging member is rotatably mounted. To lock the spindle in adjusted position the spindle is provided with a series of recesses circumferentially arranged on the threaded portion thereof which are adapted to be engaged by a set screw carried by the base structure. The spindle is further provided with a nut keyed to the end thereof to retain the dogging member thereon, the nut providing gripping surfaces whereby the spindle may be turned for adjustment, the set screw, of course, being retracted when an adjustment is made. By use of my adjustable dogging means the pressure applied to the gasket may be adjusted at several points about the margin of the closure so as to insure proper compression of the sealing gasket for predetermined movement of the several dogging elements thereof.`

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a ship door or hatch construction having adjustable dogging means which are simple in construction `and easy t'o manipulate when an adjustment is necessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved ship door or hatch construction having dogging means mounted on the interior thereof and capable of being adjusted without any necessity of dismantling either the dogging means or the door.

The above and other objects will become apparent upon considering the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a watertight bulkhead door with a portion of the coverplate broken away to disclose one of the dogging members thereof;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the door and dogging means taken along line 2 2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Inthat form of the invention chosen to illustrate a typical embodiment thereof, a portion of a water-tight door 5 is shown in the drawing in closed position on a frame 6. The door is provided with the usual hinges (not shown) and preferably with stiffening ribs 8 to reinforce the marginal stiffening member iii and panel I2, itbeing understood, however, that the door may be of any other desired or convenient construction preferred insofar as the novel features of this invention are concerned. The panel i2 is secured to and extended beyond the flange I3 of the member il] and bent back at Ui to form one side of a recess for the retention of a gasket i5. The marginal stiffening member i0 includes a flange I'G which extends at right angles to the flange i3 to complete the recess for gasket I5, a rib i8 being formed on the flange I6 for cooperation with the bent portion i4 of the panel I2 to properly retain the gasket I5.

The frame member 6 is provided with an abutment flange 2li for engagement with the gasket l when the door is moved to closed position. Provided at spaced points about the frame member E are several cam-like wedges 22 against which the several clogging members 25 (one only being shown for purposes of illustration) are adapted to engage, whereby the door may be urged toward the frame and the gasket l5 compressed against the abutment lill.' i

The clogging members are made adjustable by providing each with a base structure having an internally threaded socket 2t which is secured on the interior of the door by welding the sides thereof to a base plate 23, a stiffening .rib t' and a spacer 3Q which in turn is welded to the flange iii of the marginal stiffening member llt. The base plate 2S is also welded to the panel i2 and the marginal stiffening member l@ to insure a firm support for the clogging member. A spindle 32 is provided with a threaded portion il@ adapted to be adjustably received in the socket 26. The threaded portion of the spindle 32 has a series of elongated recesses 36 circumferentially ar.- ranged thereabout for engagement with a set screw S3 which extends through the flange l?, and is threadably heldin a bore passed through the spacer Sil and a wall of the socket 2li.

The spindle 32 is provided with a shank @il upon which a clogging member 25 is rotatably mounted, the free` end of the `spindle being threaded to receive a nut @ill to retain the dogging member in operative position. The clogging .ber is provided with an arm lli which supports roller llt, and a second arm 5B to which a connecting link 52 is pivotally connected at Ell. The connecting link 52 may be interconnected with other dogging members and a common actuating means for movement in unison in any suitable manner, for example as disclosed in the copending application of A. L, Lambert, Serial No. 170,523, Bled October 23, i937. When the clogging member 25 is revolved clockwise by movement of the link 52 the roller t8 is moved through an arcuate path into engagement with the cam surface 22 located on the frame 6. The inclination of the cam surface 22 when engaged by the roller 238 operates to force the closure toward the abutment 2t whereby the gasket l5 is compressed to provide a water-tight seal.

The mit dll is keyed to the spindle as indicated at Sib so that when it is desirable to adjust the position of a clogging member relative to the gasket such adjustment may be made by retracting the set screw 3S to clear the ridges between adjacent recesses tt, and turning the spindle in the direction desired by engaging the nut it with a wrench inserted through an opening 5'! in cover 5B. The inclination of the threads of the threaded lportion l and socket 25 are such that slight adjustments may be made by turning the spindle as little as the distance between adjacent recesses 36. In this way Very slight changes may be made by adjusting the relative positioning of the rollers d8 with respect to the gasket This is important since closures provided with interconnected actuating means such, for example, as that disclosed in the copending application of A. L.` Lambert referred to above, the roller of each dogging member is swung through a predetermined arc by the common actuating handle. Thus, in order to increase or equalize the clamping pressure of the several dogging members, it is important that each dogging member be capable of proper adjustment.

It is recognizedthat the novel dogging means of this invention may be applied to the frame instead of the closure, also that many changes in the construction thereof may be made. For example, the socket in which the spindle is threadably received may be mounted on or made integral. with the frame if such were desired. Many modifications of my invention thus being possible, it is to be understood that the form of the invention herein shown and described is intended to be illustrative of a typical embodiment of the invention and is not intended` to limit the scope thereof.

I claim:

l. A ship door or hatch construction comprising a panel and a marginal stilfening member, a plurality of clogging means mounted on said door adjacent the marginal edges thereof for rotation in a plane parallel to said panel, a second panel spaced from said rst panel and cooperating with said rst panel and said marginal stiffening member to define a hollow structure normally enclosing said clogging means, said hollow structure having spaced restricted openings in the marginal edges thereof adjacent each dogging means respectively, common actuating means for said clogging means adapted to rotate said clogging means about their pivots outwardly through said restricted openings in the marginal edges of said door into engaging relation with a frame member or inwardly into a concealed position between said panels as desired, adjustable mountings for said dogging means each including a socket mounted within the connes of said door between said panels and adjacent said margin stiening member, a spindle threadably receivable in each said socket, means accessible through the restricted openings respectively for turning each spindle in. its socket and a set screw threadably received in a wall of each said socket and extended through an opening in said sticning member for holding said spindle in adjusted position.

2. A ship door or hatch construction comprising a panel provided with a marginal stiffening member extending inwardly from the face thereof, a second panel spaced from the first panel and cooperating therewith and with said stiiening member to provide a hollow structure, said structure having a plurality of restricted marginal openings, a plurality of dogging members mounted on the interior of said door, one adjacent each of said marginal openings, mechanism operatively connected to said clogging members for actuating the dogging lmembers outwardly through said openings for engagement with a frame, and inwardly through said openings to concealing position between said panels, and means for adjusting said clogging members without removing either panel, comprising a mounting for each dogging member located adjacent its respective marginal opening, and means accessible by a tool through sai-d opening for adjusting the mounting for the dogging member relative to said panels.

3. A ship door or hatch construction comprising a panel provided with a marginal stiiening member extending inwardly from the face thereof, a second panel spaced from the rst panel cooperating therewith and with said stifening member to provide a hollow structure, said hollow structure having a plurality of restricted marginal openings, a plurality of clogging members pivotally mounted on the interior of said door for pivotal movement outwardly through said marginal openings in a plane substantially parallel to said panels to engage a frame and inwardly through said marginal openings for coneealment between said panels, a mounting for each of said dogging members located adjacent the said marginal opening corresponding thereto,

means associated with each mounting and accesl sible by a tool through the said opening for adjusting the dogging member relative to the panels, and means associated'with each mounting and accessible for manipulation from the outside of said hollow structure for maintaining each said clogging member in a given adjusted position.

WILLAM R. COCHRAN. 

